On Monday, Cuban priest Lester Rafael Zayas Díaz shared a poignant piece titled "We Have No Bed," highlighting the severe moral and material breakdown in Cuba. His words come in response to a recent incident where Miguel Díaz-Canel coldly dismissed a distressed woman from El Cobre, in Santiago de Cuba, who had lost her bed during Hurricane Melissa.
Father Lester Zayas, who serves as the parish priest at the Sacred Heart Church in Havana, took to Facebook to offer a deep reflection, turning the elderly woman's plea into a symbol of the collective anguish.
"We have no bed! This is the harsh cry that forces you to wake up from illusions and face the present reality," his statement begins, emphasizing the immediate desperation encapsulated in that phrase.
The priest argued that this lament reflects "the deepest national decline," suggesting that no future promise can be justified in the face of current despair.
"How can we promise a future to those whose tomorrow has been stolen by both Hurricane Melissa and the long-imposed, blind, and violent ideological hurricane?" he questioned.
"Without a bed, there are no dreams, no future," Zayas wrote, seeing this basic absence as a reflection of lost homes, faith, and dignity.
"To be without a bed means having nothing: no dreams, no hope, no trust in Cuba's present," he emphasized.
The priest also issued a direct challenge to those in power: "To those who ask for a bed, give them a bed, not speeches. Offer yours if necessary; order at that moment for beds to be brought. Resign if you cannot silence that terrible cry emerging from the depths of this people."
In his message, the priest criticized the regime's triumphalist narrative, stating, "You cannot demand resilience without providing beds, without offering a place to dream."
He concluded with a wish that encapsulates the country's social exhaustion: "Dream that one day in our land a bed will not be a luxury. Dream that no one will have to ask any authority for a bed."
The priest's statement is a moral response to the presidential cynicism and the symbolic oppression that followed Francisca's plea.
The events that prompted the priest's response took place during a visit to the affected area, where Díaz-Canel attempted to reassure residents by promising "evaluation teams" would assess the damages. Yet, when a woman shouted, "We have no bed," he irritably replied, "And I don't have one to give you right now."
This remark, captured by those present and circulated on social media, sparked a wave of outrage both within and outside the country.
Days later, the woman—identified as Francisca—appeared in a video shared by Yudelkis Ortiz Barceló, the Communist Party's first secretary in Granma, where she expressed gratitude to the regime and Fidel Castro.
The footage was widely viewed as a coerced retraction, illustrating the political manipulation and ideological control exerted over the most vulnerable.
Cuban Crisis and Public Outcry
What was the context of the priest's statement "We Have No Bed"?
Father Lester Zayas's statement was a response to the moral and material crisis in Cuba, highlighted by a recent incident where President Díaz-Canel dismissed a woman's plea for help after Hurricane Melissa.
How did Miguel Díaz-Canel respond to the crisis in Santiago de Cuba?
During a visit to the affected area, Díaz-Canel assured residents that evaluation teams would assess the damage. However, he responded coldly to a woman's plea for a bed, saying he couldn't provide one at that moment.
Why did the priest criticize the Cuban regime's narrative?
The priest criticized the regime's triumphalist narrative for demanding resilience from the people without providing essential resources like beds, which undermines hope and dreams.